LAHORE: Pakistan Customs Lawyers Forum (PCLF) Tuesday held protest demonstration against the alleged inappropriate attitude of Collector Appeals Lahore.
The lawyers chanted slogans and displayed banners at the main gate of Customs House describing their demand of immediate transfer of Noreen Tarar from her posts as Collector Adjudication and Collector Appeals.
They chanted slogans in front of the Collector Appeal’s room while urging the Customs higher authorities to transfer her due to her inapt behaviour with lawyers. They claimed that the lawyers were insulted in front of their clients which is intolerable.
PCLF President Majid Chaudhary said that the collector’s attitude with Customs lawyers is objectionable. He said that the collector should immediately be removed from her post as Collector Adjudication and Collector Appeals or the authorities should take their own decision as per law.
PCLF Vice President Rana Tayab said that the lawyers are insulted by the collector, and orders are not issued for last 2-3 months without any solid reason. He alleged that the collector has also threatened him to cancel his license, adding that he is a qualified lawyer and the collector has no right to question his professional integrity. He alleged that show cause notices and orders’ copies are issued after demanding bribe. He said that lawyers are court officers and they must be respected.
The lawyers threatened of locking down the Customs House if the collector is not transferred and replaced with other collector. A good number of lawyers including PCLF general secretary, Finance Secretary Ahsan Baqar and others were present on the occasion.
When Customs Today contacted the collector for her version, she said that all the allegations against her are baseless and fabricated. She said that she has never held any decision pending instead she has decided over 300 cases of both the Collectorates including Appeals and Adjudication. Both the Collectorates had huge backlog when she was given the charge of these two collectorates, she added.
